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“Love is not all…” writes Millay in one of her best-known sonnets. Six lines later, starting with the word Yet, she begins a damning rebuttal in defense of love. How do you create that turn, the volta as it is called in the sonnet, the fulcrum on which a poem is balanced? How does the turn work to give both formal and free verse poetry tension and conflict? How can you use it to give an out-for-a-stroll poem the energy of an Olympic wrestling match? In this workshop we will examine the turn: how poets create and use it; where to place it; and how to set it up. We will look at the work of a small, but diverse group of poets. Then—it’s your turn! In an exercise that will put a swerve in your verse, you’ll practice writing your own turns.

Dawn Paul teaches writing and interdisciplinary studies at Montserrat College of Art. She is the author of two novels, The Country of Loneliness and Still River. Her poetry has been published most recently in the Nassau Review and the Lindenwood Review. Dawn has an MFA from Goddard... Read More →

Cindy Veach is the author of Gloved Against Blood (CavanKerry Press, fall 2017). She has taught poetry at the University of Oregon, where she received an MFA. Her poems have appeared in Prairie Schooner, Poet Lore, The Journal, The North American Review, Michigan Quarterly Review... Read More →